UI Political Aspirants And A Need For Better Orientation

A case study to start with. The Faculty of Law at the University of Ibadan once had an aspirant who declared his intent to run because he wanted to serve his faculty members. The candidate failed to provide any solution when asked about his approach to solving the known concerns. One of the current candidates vying for the Students’ Union President has publicly stated that he has affection towards students and the university.  What is an affection that cannot speak without mincing words to issues?

Political aspirants throughout the University of Ibadan commonly use the phrase “to serve” as a catchphrase. However, most of them miss the fundamentals of what it means to serve the union. Over the years, politicians vying for positions in the UISU have emerged, mostly unaware of the true nature of their roles, and have carried out their activities as executives with a lack of awareness. They skim through their constitutional duties as outlined in the UISU constitution, build a flimsy manifesto around these duties, and create plans without thoroughly thinking them through, ultimately believing they have done an excellent job.

In theory, running for a political position is a commitment to serving the electorate; however, what is often missing is an understanding of how to serve. An average student politician believes himself or herself to have taken on a godlike position when they successfully emerge as winners. They become suddenly detached and uprooted from the student populace, and they start to see themselves as being in a position higher than the average student. As a result, they become oblivious to the students’ plights and challenges. Effective service begins with knowing and understanding the challenges faced by the electorate; however, when politicians seem detached, understanding becomes a problem.

Seeing that ambitious students, past and present, may not fully understand the plights of students, for the sake of this article and for the benefit of said politicians and aspirants, it becomes important to clearly define these issues.

Lights Out: The Constant Issue With Electricity.. 

The FreeMote Protest in 2015 and 2016 was held to address the electricity problems. Students had  it to their necks and could no longer tolerate the epileptic power supply and so they chose to take matters into their hands. The preceding paragraph has been laid down to show that the issue of terrible power supply has long existed in the university and perhaps, the reason why it persist is the failure of student leaders to address it from the source. Multiple executive administrations have since emerged at UI’SU level but each one has failed to provide students with a solution to the electricity problem that has become worse with every passing session. 

The lack of power supply extends to multiple days without any reason given to students. Students experienced one of their worst power conditions during the first semester when they needed to journey outside their hostels to access the eco friendly center and Access bank to charge their devices. A memo released earlier this session mentioned that there was going to be some form of light rationing and while this was eventually retracted, students have posited due to the state of electricity supply that there has actually been electricity rationing. 

Worse of all Students preparing for exam  must do so  without power supply because the power outage intensifies during this time. Multiple students during the ongoing examination have posted complaints about how poor electricity quality makes studying impossible.

The electrical problems at University College Hospital create such extensive challenges that the student issues at UI appear relatively small. Medical Students at UCH have had to face various hardships because of the power outage that has endure for over 90 days, leaving them in total darkness for months. Fetching water and charging their devices has been nothing less than a chore as they have had to leave their halls of residence everyday for these basic amenities. 

Various executives and political aspirants have repeatedly promised  solutions for the electricity problem at the university but their proposed plans are mostly never well thought out. For instance, the current House Secretary identified a problem under the second agenda of his manifesto (Light and Security). The problem he stated, was that there was inadequate communications during electrical blackouts or faults and he planed to use the office of the PRO to enhance communications as regards to the regular electricity faults. This prompted the question, was the issue with communication to the student populace?

Despite recognizing regular power issues on campus he decided that the best he could do was to communicate the reason for this issue to students while potentially leaving them in darkness and not actually solving this issue. He further went on to say that ‘proactive steps will be taken to resolve these steps as at when appropriate’ hinting that he had no interest in finding out and solving the core problems of the blackout, but simply addressing the immediate causes. 

 Advocating for Better Transport Prices

UCJUI Correspondent conducted a test  that first  involved boarding a tricycle from Agbowo (opposite the school gate) to Sabo-Ojoo. Boarding this tricycle caused 200 naira and on her way back from Sabo, she decided to walk to see how far it was, however, on getting to the second gate, she had become too exhausted to carry on and so had to board another tricycle. 

Two days after, she took a cab from UI gate to Awo hall and it cost her #200. However when she walked from Awo hall to UI gate she noticed that the distance was not as long as from Sabo to UI. 

The experiment was a way to confirm that University of Ibadan transporters charged more than external transporters, for even shorter distances.  Student leaders repeatedly are put at the fore front to bargain transport fares for students but each time they return with increased fares much to the distaste of students.  These repeated futile negotiations lead one to wonder which groups genuinely gain from the price agreements and if there is any need sending representatives who do not fully understand their plight to negotiate for them. Students who face financial difficulties continue to pay escalating costs for transportation even though they receive no benefits from the negotiations with transportation providers. The current and past House secretarires promised to advocate for price reviews and regulations among transporter however students as usual have only seen transport prices increase exorbitantly. These executives who often times commute with the aluta jet perhaps do not see the hardships these transport prices have caused and most likely  when the new executives emerged and are in control of the aluta jet, they will forget what it means to pay exorbitantly for transportation.

Academic Welfare: A shift from Academic Tutorials

If there is one thing that has been continuously drilled into the heads of students, it is that their reason for coming to school, is to achieve academic excellence. Parents, lecturers, friends, and even fellow students have passed this message across in various ways, emphasizing that academic excellence should be the priority. However, what happens when academics stop academicing? The University of Ibadan implemented an 11-week academic calendar that has caused constant burnout and stress for students. Students face difficulties managing their coursework because too many deadlines arise while they hace minimal time to juggle  academic responsibilities. Yet, despite the overwhelming pressure, the students politicians and political aspirants have largely remained silent.

Student learning conditions suffer from multiple academic problems which persist independently of the academic calendar. The state of classrooms remains deplorable, lecture halls are often overcrowded in some faculties, with poor ventilation making learning a chore for students. Libraries and reading rooms in departments and faculties are oftentimes nothing to write home about. Projectors hardly ever work, making it difficult for lecturers to effectively deliver multimedia-based lessons, while class clashes are so frequent that students often have to choose between attending one class and missing another, leading to knowledge gaps.

For far too long, there has been an unspoken assumption that academic concerns lie solely in the hands of the university administration. But if student politicians truly claim to represent the students, they must recognize that academic welfare extends beyond tutorials. It is about pushing for structural improvements in learning environments, holding the administration accountable for academic policies that do more harm than good, and ensuring that students are not merely enduring university life but actually learning in a setting that allows them to excel.

Corporate Begging: School Fees Hike And A Need For A Permanent Solution 

Student politicians at the University of Ibadan along with their aspirants have shown little active involvement toward the rising school fees which burden Nigerian students throughout the country. The dialogue was shifted towards the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) instead of contesting the unreasonable fee increases when the topic of higher fees emerged.

Student leaders and political aspirants  indirectly and openly told the student body not to worry about fee increment because they could obtain student loans. However, the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) implemented new restrictions for student loans by choosing to provide funds for specific fields of study at the expense of others. The current situation forces us to ask immediately which students will be affected because their academic fields were cut from funding. The students face three potential scenarios: leaving school, pursuing questionable funding methods or abandoning education.

The UI Students’ Union as well as some aspirants spent its energy on social media corporate begging  instead of developing meaningful solutions for  the fee hike issue.  Student politicians have established an accepted protocol that requires students to either borrow loans with uncertain terms or expect donations to cover their educational costs. The main issue remains unresolved for the upcoming academic years. Students will keep counting on donor generosity as their self-proclaimed representatives persist in failing to secure genuine solutions.

This current pattern creates a worrying future because leaders neglect student protection policies and fees rise without limits while the union works mainly in crisis response instead of preventing issues. Student politicians seeking to serve should change their strategies by prioritizing lasting reforms over temporary solutions. The continuation of this approach leads students into enduring financial challenges instead of confronting the system responsible for their situation.

The Neglected Conversation of Health Care Amongst Aspirants and Student Leaders

For an institution that prides itself on academic excellence, the condition of healthcare services is not so encouraging. Yet, Jaja Clinic, the university’s primary healthcare center, remains an ongoing source of frustration—one that no student executive, past or present, has critically addressed.

For many students, a visit to Jaja is often a last resort, not because they don’t need medical attention, but because of the slow, inefficient services at the clinic. Students have had to endure long hours of waiting before seeing a doctor, even in cases of urgent medical need. 

The prolonged complaints about Jaja healthcare have never led to any critical examination by student politicians who run for office office or hold executive positions. The university faces no significant dialogue about healthcare system reforms nor does it encounter any active efforts to force better healthcare facilities from the institution. 

 The Responsibility of Aspirants to Offer Real Solutions

Every election season, aspirants flood the university with slogans of service, change, and progress. They move from hall to hall, faculty to faculty, making seemingly grand promises, yet many fail to understand the true weight of the positions they seek. Aspirants must first ask themselves: What do I really want? What does this position demand? And how do I intend to make a difference?

It is not enough to express a desire to serve; true leadership necessitates action plans. Aspirants should perform extensive research on issues impacting students. A serious candidate should not only acknowledge these issues, but also offer well-thought-out remedies and demonstrate a thorough understanding of how to apply them. Another important consideration is manifesto comparison. Many aspirants make generic pledges that are nearly identical to those made by those who came before them. However, manifestos should not be copy-and-paste texts; rather, they should reflect a candidate’s own vision and approach. Before presenting their intentions to the people, candidates must critically assess previous governments. What were their promises? What did they accomplish? What exactly did they fail at, and why? How can I perform better?

Importantly, student leaders must avoid proposing temporary fixes to fundamental problems. For example, corporations begging for school fees rather than addressing tuition increases, embracing NELFUND without examining its viability, and organizing tutorials while disregarding academic infrastructure are all patches on underlying flaws. A true leader advocates for reform, not short fixes. Campaigns should be issue-based rather than personality-driven. The emphasis should not be on who can provide the most freebies or has the most vocal fans, but on who has a sustainable plans for the Union. The electorate must also demand this transition by questioning candidates, challenging their ideas, and rejecting ambiguous or repetitive rhetoric.

Student politics at UI cannot remain an annual cycle of hollow promises. Aspirants must stand up, educate themselves on the realities of governing, and propose significant, long-term solutions. Otherwise, they are running for office solely to possess a title, not to lead.

• This feature is part of a special series on the dynamics of the 2025 Students’ Union Election by the Union of Campus Journalists under its Election Watch Room Initiative.